


Strength

by Jain



Category: My Boss My Hero (TV)
Genre: Chromatic Source, Community: yuletide, First Time, M/M, POV Third Person, Past Tense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-24
Updated: 2010-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-14 01:56:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/144082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jain/pseuds/Jain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makio instructs Jun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strength

**Author's Note:**

  * For [peroxidepest17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peroxidepest17/gifts).



Jun had thought that college would be different. Only the students who really applied themselves would be accepted, and they'd be older and more mature and actually want to be there. After he'd had his head dunked in a toilet twice in as many weeks, he resigned himself to the fact that college and high school apparently weren't quite so removed from each other, after all.

The bullies weren't in any of his classes, which was a plus, but they did live just down the hall from him, which was an incredibly huge minus. There were other differences from his high school experience with bullying. They didn't extort money from him or demand that he do their homework or even humiliate him in public for laughs. They just caught him alone, persistently and inexorably, beat him up until he was aching from it, and then left. It didn't make any sense.

After one of them made a crude comment about Jun's mouth and the uses it could be put to, Jun wasn't quite so confused.

"Hikari's very pretty," he said to Hikari over coffee the following Wednesday. She blushed and waved her hand quickly in negation, but Jun wasn't trying to flatter her or even embarrass her; he just needed a solution to his problem. So he didn't pause to argue with her, but pressed on: "Has it ever caused problems for you?"

Hikari looked at him quizzically, cheeks still pink. "Problems like what?"

"Oh, like...harassment, that sort of thing. Inappropriate comments. Or maybe more than comments?"

"Are you worrying about me, Jun?" she asked, faintly disbelieving.

"No, no," he said hastily. She frowned a little harder, and he corrected himself, "That is, of course I care about you. But I wasn't trying to..." He trailed off, uncertain how to say "act like a jealous ex-boyfriend" without using those words, because even making the suggestion would sound like an admission of guilt.

As it turned out, he should have been less worried about Hikari's ability to read things into the situation that weren't there, and more about her ability to read things into the situation that _were_.

"Hitomi-san's old enough and pretty enough that she must have lots of experience dealing with pushy admirers," Hikari mused out loud.

Jun nodded, trying unsuccessfully to dispel the sudden sinking feeling in his stomach.

"You'd tell me if there were a new girl you liked," she continued, with a sharp look that told him clear as words that Jun had _better_ agree to that assessment.

Jun nodded again.

Hikari's eyes were almost unbearably sympathetic. "Is it you, then, Jun?"

Reluctantly, Jun nodded yet again. "It's not a big deal," he said. "...so far."

"But you think it might become a problem in the future," Hikari said.

"Maybe. Unless they get bored of me."

" _They?_ " Hikari demanded, and Jun winced. "Just how many men are harassing you, Jun?"

"Three."

"And you think they might hurt you."

Jun shrugged. Taking Hikari's statement literally, they already had; they'd given him bruises and, once, a black eye that he'd had to cover with make-up before he could go to his classes. It was the first time in his life that he'd been grateful that Hitomi used to dress him up like a live doll when he'd been little. He knew just what to buy at the corner store and remembered how to use it, wielding the tiny sponges and brushes with rather more facility than when he'd been eight.

Taking her statement euphemistically, as Hikari had intended...he wasn't sure. They hadn't raped him yet, but maybe they were just working up the courage. Or maybe they were waiting for Jun to crack first, to decide that a few blowjobs were worth not getting beaten up on a weekly basis.

"Jun, that's horrible," Hikari said.

Jun made a hopefully non-committal noise. It sort of was, but he didn't want to make Hikari worry more than she had to.

"Do you have a friend at school who could stick close to you?" Hikari asked, though he could tell by the tone of her voice that she knew there wasn't anyone like that. He would have told her if he'd made any new friends, and so far he'd spent all of his free time in the library or his room dodging bullies. It made it hard to get to know anyone.

Jun shook his head.

"You could try to get them expelled," she said tentatively, and Jun winced at the thought.

"It probably wouldn't work, and then they'd _really_ go after me."

Hikari nodded a reluctant agreement. She placed her hand on top of Jun's and squeezed it warmly. "We'll figure something out, Jun. I promise."

"Of course," Jun said, not believing her for a moment, but willing enough to take the comfort that she offered.

* * *

"Sakura-something," Makki called when Jun emerged from the library, blinking into the late afternoon sun.

Jun turned to greet him with a somewhat forced smile. This was what came of telling girls things; after eighteen years of living with his older sister, you'd think he'd have learned that.

"Umemura-san says that you've been having problems with some lowlifes in your class," Makki said in a confidential tone when they were standing face-to-face.

"I guess so," Jun said, blushing a little.

"Okay," Makki said decisively. "So, do you want me to beat them up for you, or do you want me to teach you how to beat them up yourself?"

Jun blinked. "Can you _do_ that?"

He gazed up at Makki--a full head taller than he was, and with at least twice the muscle--and Makki looked back at him. "You don't have to be as strong as me to be a good fighter," Makki said, catching Jun's meaning immediately. Makki might not be the brightest student, but there were some things that he understood very well.

"Okay, then," Jun said. "Please teach me."

A broad grin split Makki's strongly featured face. "With pleasure, Sakurakoji."

* * *

Makki flatly refused to let Jun wear his old high school gym uniform in the dojo, which was how Jun found himself wearing Kazu's gi (with Kazu himself growling a bit unnervingly from the doorway).

"You can't have the proper energy without the proper setting," Makki had said, which was a rather poetical sentiment, but also made a lot of sense.

Unfortunately... "I don't think it would be practical for me to dress like this to go to classes," Jun said in an apologetic tone.

"That's different," Makki said dismissively. "The energy you get streetfighting is nothing like the energy you get in the dojo. This is what's best for lessons."

He showed Jun to a small antechamber where he could change his clothes, and then led him through a series of warm-up exercises that had Jun breathless and feeling ready to drop even before they got to the fighting part.

"Good," Makki said finally, and Jun stood still gratefully. He tried to muster up a smile for Makki, who was being generous enough to help Jun, even if it felt as though he were torturing him. "Now, let's see what you can do. Defend yourself." Before Jun even realized Makki was moving, he'd had his feet hooked out from underneath him. The mat rushed towards his face with alarming rapidity, and then he felt a jolt and all the air rushed out of his lungs.

Makki used the arm he'd wrapped around Jun's stomach--tripping him and catching him almost in the same motion--to push him into a standing position once more.

"You're that weak?" Makki asked, and Jun might have bristled at the insult but for the fact that the tone of Makki's voice sounded as though the question stemmed from concern rather than derision.

"I've never fought anyone before," he said apologetically.

" _Never?_ " Makki repeated.

Jun nodded, and Makki shook his head in apparent disbelief. Kazu snickered from the doorway.

"Kazu, get changed. We're going to need your help," Makki said.

"Yes, aniki!" Kazu said promptly, snapping to attention.

"Don't worry, Sakurakoji," Makki said. "We'll show you how it's done."

Apparently, "how it was done" meant that Jun spent a lot of time picking himself up from the mat while Kazu smirked down at him. Makki seemed to think he was actually learning something, though, so Jun gritted his teeth and did his best to follow Makki's instructions.

* * *

Five days later, Jun managed to get through Kazu's defenses with a lucky hit to his windpipe, and Kazu fell back coughing and choking.

"Good!" Makki shouted. "Just like that."

Kazu glared at Jun, and Jun gave him an apologetic shrug.

"You won't do that again," Kazu vowed.

"Probably not," Jun admitted. "But I'm going to try my best."

Kazu blinked at him, looking surprised. When Jun offered him a smile, he even returned it slightly. And then he lashed out with his right foot and almost kicked Jun in the head, and only Jun's hasty retreat saved him from a concussion.

* * *

"No Kazu-kun today?" Jun asked when he and Makki had finished their warm-up exercises.

Makki shook his head. "He's at...out on a job," he said, obviously eliding some sort of criminal activity. Since he knew that Jun knew what his family did, he must be trying to protect Jun's sensibilities by not inflicting any further information on him.

Jun smiled. "It's not anything important, is it? Because I'd understand if you needed to cancel our lesson."

"No, no," Makki said. "It's fine. Besides, I promised to help you. I can't break a promise."

"Even so, you don't have to teach me every single day," Jun pointed out. "Though of course I appreciate it."

Makki shrugged in apparent embarrassment. "Don't mention it. Okay, are you ready to fight now?"

"Sure," Jun said, though his stomach twinged slightly with nervousness. He'd fought Makki since that first day, but not very seriously. Mostly he fought Kazu while Makki paced around them like a caged tiger, watching their every move and barking out advice and encouragement. The idea of an entire lesson spent fighting someone who could probably break Jun in half without much effort was more than a little intimidating. Not that he really thought Makki would hurt him, of course, but it was hard to imagine that he could learn much fighting with someone so far superior to him. He didn't want to waste Makki's time.

Makki seemed to have anticipated that problem, though. Instead of fighting him for real, he led Jun in a series of hits and kicks and blocks, all conducted at a quarter speed, so that he could correct Jun instantaneously and so that Jun could get the right feel for each move. Before long, Jun's muscles were trembling with effort, at which point Makki made him move at half speed. Then, once he decided that Jun had the hang of it, they ran through all the moves again at full speed.

And then he showed Jun how to do a choke hold, after impressing on him the fact that Jun could actually kill him fairly easily if he weren't careful. Jun boggled a little at the idea of being able to hurt the formidable Makki, but he heeded the warning and practiced locking his arms around Makki's neck and applying pressure in just the right way.

It was almost more exhausting than fighting had been, watching Makki's face carefully and worrying every moment that he might damage him. When Makki finally said that he'd had enough, Jun let out a sigh of relief.

Makki stared at his face with rather more concentration than was necessary, while Jun breathed a bit heavily--he wasn't used to this degree of exertion, even after two and a half weeks of Makki's lessons--feeling a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face. Makki licked his upper lip unconsciously, and Jun tried to hide his smile, certain that Makki had finally figured things out...and in far less time than Jun had expected.

He stopped thinking that rather quickly when Makki kicked him (gently) out of his house, not even bothering to listen to Jun's protests that he was still in his borrowed gi. When the feeling of being inside a whirlwind had subsided, Jun found himself outside with his clothes clutched to his chest. The door opened a few moments later, and his heart leaped a little in anticipation, but it was only so a disembodied hand could reach around and place Jun's shoes on the front step. The door closed again directly afterwards.

Jun let out a long sigh. Then he hid behind one of the bushes in Makki's yard so that he could change his clothes, leaving the gi neatly folded on the front step. He squinted at the dark windows of the house, but couldn't see well enough to know if Makki or anyone else was watching. He went so far as to raise his hand to the doorbell, but he couldn't bring himself to ring it. Finally, he sighed again and trudged away.

* * *

The next day, Jun's bullies caught him on the way to take a bath, when he was carrying his bath caddy and dressed only in his robe. The obvious way they leered at his bare legs only inflamed his irritation. He stomped on Miyake's instep and followed it with an elbow to the gut, faked a kneejab to Sugiyama's crotch and poked him in the eye with his finger when he quickly pulled his hips away, and finished by cracking Ito over the head with his shampoo bottle.

By that point, Miyake was mostly recovered from the elbowjab, and Ito wouldn't be far behind, but that was okay. Jun was ready for them.

* * *

Makki wasn't answering his phone. After the fourth call went to his voicemail system, Jun left him a deliberately cheerful message: "Hi, Makki. I got in a fight today with those three guys. I'm standing outside your house right now. I'd really like to talk to you."

Less than a minute later, the front door opened, and Makki came rushing out and hurried over to him. He grasped Jun's shoulders. "Sakurakoji," he said urgently. "Are you all right?"

Jun smiled, even though it hurt his mouth a little. "I'm fine. I think I need practice fighting more than one person at a time, though."

Makki was shaking his head before he'd even finished his sentence, staring at Jun's bruised face with a pained fascination. "This was a bad idea."

He hadn't moved his hands from Jun's shoulders. Jun raised his own right hand and placed it on top of Makki's left.

Makki started and pulled away, and Jun let him. For now. "Sakurakoji," he said.

"Jun," Jun corrected.

Makki gulped audibly. "Jun. You should let me beat those guys up for you. I promise, when they get out of the hospital, they won't bother you again."

"I kind of liked being able to take care of them by myself," Jun said.

"Understandable," Makki admitted. "But I don't want you to--"

Jun raised himself up onto his toes and pressed a kiss to Makki's mouth, effectively silencing him.

Makki stared down at him with wide eyes.

"Please," Jun said. "I don't need you to protect me, Makki. But I do need you, if you want me, too."

Makki's mouth worked silently for a moment as he fumbled for words, and then he visibly gave up the effort, wrapped his arms around Jun's waist, and lifted him up to kiss him back.

* * *

In all the excitement of beginning a new relationship--with a _man_ , no less--and figuring out how that worked, it took a couple of weeks before Jun really noticed that he hadn't run into his bullies once since the day he'd stood up to them. While it would have been nice to think that he'd managed to scare them away for good, he knew that he wasn't _that_ intimidating, even with his newfound fighting skills.

"Makki," he said when he went over to his house later that day (and after they'd exchanged a kiss or twelve). "You didn't do anything to those guys who were bothering me, did you?"

Makki just gave him a convincingly baffled look (and another kiss). "No. How could I? You never even told me their names."

"That's true," Jun said. "Still, it's very strange. All three of them withdrew from school, just two days after I fought them."

Makki grinned at him. "You beat them that badly?" he asked, visibly bursting with pride.

Jun laughed. "No, I'm sure I didn't. But I don't know what could have happened to make them drop out, if you didn't do anything to them."

"I didn't," Makki said, unnecessarily; other than the lies he'd told to hide that he was a twenty-seven year old yakuza, he'd always been obstreperously honest.

Jun smiled at him. "I believe you," he said and kissed him again. The kiss this time got rather involved, and Jun was happily occupied with licking the taste of curry bread and mango juice from Makki's mouth, shivering with pleasure when Makki's fingers crept under his shirt to stroke the small of his back, when his half-lidded eyes fell on a shadowed chair across the room and he jerked back suddenly. "Mikki!" he said.

Makki turned around to look at his brother. Mikki waved cheerfully at the two of them. "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt," he said.

Jun gaped at him and tried not to wonder how long he had been sitting there and exactly how many kisses he'd watched them exchange.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, though," Mikki said, "and I thought it might be a good idea to explain to you how things are, Jun-kun."

Jun swallowed nervously. He hadn't really let himself consider what might happen if and when Makki's family discovered that their heir was romantically involved with another man. Makki seemed so invulnerable, but he had a horror of disappointing his family. If they were to insist that Makki break up with Jun...

Mikki smiled coolly at Jun. "You understand that you're family now, Jun-kun. Which means that... _inconveniences_ such as those painfully stupid classmates of yours aren't going to be a concern for you anymore. Very well?"

Jun felt his jaw drop at the realization that Mikki had...had _disappeared_ his bullies. Not for the first time, he reflected that it was a good thing that Mikki had no desire to take over the family business. Makki would be a fine leader, Jun thought loyally, but Mikki could probably take over all of Japan if he put his mind to it.

Mikki was also staring at him patiently, waiting for a response. "Um. Yes," Jun said, only a little uncertainly. "Thank you, Mikki-san."

Mikki's smile widened. "No thanks necessary, my dear boy. Now, why don't the two of you run along to my brother's room, where you'll have less fear of interruption?"

Jun felt his face burn brightly, but Makki just said, "Good idea," and tugged Jun off the couch and down the long hallway to his bedroom. Jun thought that he caught a glimpse of Makki's father at one point in their whirlwind journey, watching the two of them with a somewhat resigned expression on his face. And then they reached Makki's room, and Jun was more than happy to put aside all thoughts of Makki's family in favor of concentrating on Makki himself.


End file.
